Ukraine: Kyiv Claims Russians Abandoned Village Near Kherson… Before Reversing

The announcement was unexpected, since it concerned a rather “calm” section of the front. The Ukrainian army said on Thursday that Russian troops had been withdrawn from the town of Novaya Kakhova, located in the Kherson region in the country’s south, before returning to its statement.

“On March 22, 2023 (Wednesday), all units of the occupying army stationed in the settlement of Novaya Kakhovka, Kherson region, left the city,” the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

New Kakhovka, which had a population of 45,000 before the war, is located in the Kherson region, partly occupied and annexed in September 2022 by Vladimir Putin. The city is located exactly a few kilometers northeast of Kherson, the city that the Russians left in November 2022 to retreat to the other side of the Dnieper.

Moscow denied

The statement of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine was immediately denied by the representative of the Russian occupation in the Kherson region. “I officially declare that all Russian servicemen in Nova Kakhovka, as in other places on the left bank of the Dnieper, remain in their positions,” Vladimir Saldo wrote on Telegram.

Kyiv eventually admitted that the Russians still held the city, citing a misunderstanding. “The invaders are temporarily in Nova Kakhovka. Information about the alleged withdrawal of the enemy from this settlement was made public as a result of the incorrect use of available data, ”the General Staff of Ukraine said in a Telegram message.

The news of the liberation of Novaya Kakhova was unexpected, given the lack of troop movement in the area. After the liberation of Kherson in November last year, the front in this area was frozen, and both sides preferred to concentrate their efforts on the Bakhmut region in the east.

The confusion arose after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the region on Thursday. The city of Novaya Kakhovka is located near the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, which was captured by the Russians at the beginning of the offensive into Ukraine at the end of February 2022.